PHOENIX – Planning procedures for national forests – including 9 million acres in Arizona – are being updated for the first time in nearly 30 years. The revision is expected to guide management of the forests for the next several years, shaping decisions on logging, recreation and wildlife habitat.
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Forest streams like this one found in the Tonto National Forest slake Arizona's thirsty cities.
Ben Brown, Arizona-New Mexico field representative of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, says the rule relies on “adaptive management,” where the results of actions taken are monitored, with adjustments made as necessary. Brown says his group is concerned that the proposal isn’t quite tough enough.
“From what we can see, the responsible official has so much wiggle room that he or she can pretty much get out of the responsibility of conducting monitoring. If you don’t have strong monitoring requirements, you won’t know what your impacts are or when you need to revise your plan.”
Brown believes the new rule is too vague on wildlife-protection issues and that more precise language is needed – especially in areas where forest managers may be subject to local political and economic pressures.
“Flexibility is good, but these folks live sometimes in remote rural communities and they’re subject to a lot of pressure. I think that they need a little stronger framework that they can fall back on when people start pressuring them to do things that they probably shouldn’t.”
The original 1982 rule had very specific language requiring habitat protection to support viable populations of fish and wildlife, Brown says, adding that that language is missing from the proposed revision.
A spotted owl finds refuge in the Apache National Forest in Arizona. National forests have more intact populations of rare plants and animals than any other federal land system, providing habitat for some 3,400 sensitive species.
“This rule probably gives a forest manager the latitude to let certain species go extinct on his particular part of the national forest. We would like to see stronger language, particularly as it relates to maintaining viable populations of wildlife.”
A public meeting on the proposed forest-planning rule will be held Thursday at the Radisson Phoenix Airport North, 427 N. 44th St., with sessions starting at 1 and 6 p.m. Public comments on the new forest planning rule are being accepted through May 16. The proposed rule and information on the meetings and submitting comments can be found online at fs.usda.gov/planningrule.
Learn more about the new forest rule on the Defenders’ website.
— Doug Ramsey, Public News Service – AZ
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